/ kənˈtɪnjuəm; NAmE / noun
( pl. con·tinua / -juə; NAmE /) a series of similar items in which each is almost the same as the ones next to it but the last is very different from the first
SYN cline :
It is impossible to say at what point along the continuum a dialect becomes a separate language.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent.: from Latin , neuter of continuus uninterrupted, from continere hang together (from con- together with + tenere hold).